Fluorine Positional Isomerism Enables H‐Aggregation for High‐Performance Semicrystalline Polymer Donors in Organic Solar Cells
Constructing high-performance semicrystalline polymer donors is often hindered by the trade-off between crystalline order and donor-acceptor miscibility. Herein, we demonstrate that fluorine positional isomerism serves as a precise molecular handle to reconcile this conflict by modulating aggregation behaviors. Through regulating fluorine substitution from alkoxy ortho- (PFo) to meta- (PFm) and para- (PFp) positions, a distinct transition from J-aggregation to H-dominant aggregation is achieved. Contrary to the conventional preference for J-aggregates, the H-aggregated PFp achieves superior photovoltaic performance in this BDF-based polymer system, driven by the synergistic effects of HOMO stabilization, optimized packing, and matched interfacial energetics. Comprehensive dynamical studies, including vibronic analysis and transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy, reveal that H-aggregation maximizes π-π orbital overlap and optimizes phase separation, thereby suppressing non-radiative recombination and accelerating ultrafast charge transfer. Consequently, PFp-based binary devices deliver a champion efficiency of 18.54%. Furthermore, demonstrating the universality of this strategy, PFp acts as a potent morphology regulator in ternary blends, boosting the efficiency to an impressive 19.77%. This work establishes fluorine positional isomerism as a precise molecular handle to guide H-aggregation, synergistically optimizing energy levels and interfacial miscibility, offering an effective design strategy for high-performance semicrystalline polymer donors.
Authors
- Wenhao Peng
- Meixiu Wan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0865-6376)
- Yuchen Yue (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4864-9936)
- Jingxia Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4780-4367)
- Jianqi Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3549-1482)
- Lijun Huo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9546-0066)
- Jianling Ni
- Han Shen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6714-5237)
- Shisong Sun
- Zhenyu Wei
- Bing Zheng
Institutions
- Alliance Bioversity International - CIAT (IT)
- Jinan University (CN)
- Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry (CN)
- National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (CN)
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Beihang University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Small
- Published
- 2026-07-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.74571
- Primary Topic
- Organic Electronics and Photovoltaics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Natural Science Foundation of Beijing Municipality
- National Key Research and Development Program of China